Bartlett's glove speaks for Padres' new shortstop

PEORIA, Ariz.  Midway through the “groundhog days” of a long exhibition season, the Padres were hosting the Giants on a Friday night in Peoria.

And Jason Bartlett was watching … and watching … and watching.

As he studied the Giants, the Padres shortstop picked the brain of Padres bench coach Rick Renteria.

“He wanted long answers to questions about every Giant player,” Renteria said. “He hadn’t seen them very much before. He was absorbing, putting data in his bank.

“We went over pitchers, hitters and Giants strategy. He wanted to know about (Giants manager Bruce) Bochy, what he might do in certain situations. Jason had his eyes on everything the Giants were doing.”

“Jason Bartlett is two steps ahead,” said Orlando Hudson, the second-base half of the Padres’ new double-play combination. “He’s a scout as well as a great player.

“He doesn’t say a lot, but you can see the wheels turning. He’s always thinking ahead … like he’s plotting to have a situation happen.”

Say a lot? Bartlett hardly says anything at all. Not a great interview, this 31-year-old, 2009 American League All-Star.

Friendly? Yes.

Verbose? No.

“I love playing the game,” Bartlett responds to an inquiry about his approach. “When you love something, you pour yourself into it. You want to do it right.”

Bartlett has certainly poured himself into baseball. He is considered one of the game’s top defensive shortstops. And two seasons ago, he posted the highest batting average in the relatively short history of the Tampa Bay Rays.

But when you ask him to talk about his career …

More than two weeks into spring training, Padres manager Bud Black admitted that he had talked more to Rays manager Joe Maddon about his former shortstop than directly to Bartlett.

“I’m still in the process of getting to know him,” Black said of Bartlett. “But everyone I’ve spoken to about Jason raves about him. Joe said I’ll really enjoy him as a player and a person.

“From what I’ve seen, I’m already a huge Bartlett fan.”

Said Renteria: “There is a lot to love about Bartlett’s game. He does everything the right way. He is not flashy. But he’s the player who makes hard plays look easy. There is a tremendous comfort level with Bartlett at shortstop.

“It’s hard to teach someone field awareness. A player has to want to understand what’s going on around him. Bartlett might not be saying a lot, but he knows what is going on around him … extremely observant.”

Which was a trait the Padres saw in 2001 when they drafted him in the 13th round out of the University of Oklahoma.

Bartlett immediately made a favorable impression on the Padres. After batting .300 for short-season Single-A Eugene in summer 2001, Bartlett skipped low Single-A Fort Wayne and opened the 2002 season as the shortstop with Single-A Lake Elsinore.

Bartlett appeared to be on a fast track with the Padres. But by June 2002, his future with the club had been derailed. The Padres made shortstop Khalil Greene their first-round pick in the 2002 draft.

“I sort of knew right then that my days in the Padres system were numbered,” Bartlett said.

In fact, that number was 37 — the number of days after the 2002 draft that Bartlett remained a Padre before he was traded to Minnesota for major league outfielder-first baseman Brian Buchanan.

Bartlett first reached the major leagues with the Twins late in the 2004 season, became a regular during the 2006 season and was traded to Tampa Bay before the 2008 season.

He officially returned to the Padres last Dec. 17 in a trade that sent relief pitchers Adam Russell, Cesar Ramos and Brandon Gomes plus minor league infielder Cole Figueroa to the Rays.

After seven years around the American League, Bartlett is getting his first real look at National League teams.

“I’m glad all the NL West teams train in Arizona,” he said. “This spring is a little like going to school. I’m watching and listening.”